I am curious to know if you would be offended, if at church on Sunday your Pastor got up and said a prayer for Church Mice?
I mean he prayed that the mice be strengthened and given the ability to carry out their mousey duties and to eventually render the Church unusable, so that the Parisheners would finally have to pony up the dough to pay for a new Church.
ok I am kidding here is the original post but hey if you are just now reading this thread there have been many twists and turns and I no longer say a prayer over the deceased and yes largely due to many of the points made in this thread. Also NO i would not be offended if anyone of any belief Satanist, TO Catholic said prayers or whipered chants or whatever in my ear that said it was and is an interesting thread but please read about 5-10 of the current posts prior to posting
Now The
ORIGNAL POST
I am curious to know if you would be offended, after death if someone were to say a prayer over you.
I would really like to hear from as many Agnostic or Atheist as possible.
I recently began saying a prayer over anyone that dies in my presence. Many times I do not know if the person had a religious preference or not. I am curious to know if people would be offended if they knew someone was going to pray over them when they die.
here is the prayer
Dear Lord not our will but yours. Into thine hands we commend the spirit of this peaceful child of God. Prepare a place for him/her Now in Your Heavenly Kingdom![/Quote]
If you expect never to be offended, then you best never leave your house. Turn your phone, computer, TV, radio, and all other forms of communication off. Oh, and you better have your family move out. And possibly your dog.
A little tolerance goes a long way for personal peace.
Merricat, The Jewish tradition involves no embalming. Aslo all lines like IV;s catheters, etc. that were in teh body at death are to remain in the body. Burial is usually within 24 hours and the week after that, the family sits Shivah where they pray and remember. I think this is a good way to do things. There are many different customs out there. We just need to find what our comfort is. I have prayed with patients becasue tehy have asked me to. I have quietly said prayers for patients who would be happy if I did but I needed to do it. We need to be tolerant of each other and realize that the prayers are people's way of reaching out to try and give a sick patient peace of mind and hope.
Interesting perspective, although not sure I agree with your interpretation.
How can freedom from religion be measured and where is the line drawn? Is freedom from religion the right to not be exposed to it whatsoever in public view? What about when you're a patient or working in a religious hospital and there are crucifixes in every patient room? Is it your right to request it to be removed because you have freedom from religion?
I think that you are free not to be forced to practice a government-sanctioned religion, or any religion at all for that matter. But not sure we can protect people from exposure to any religion at all. Religion is a part of our society and there are going to be visible artifacts, symbols and other outward signs in society that you are bound to be exposed to, even if that entails me saying a prayer to my God about you.
Yep, I agree there is no way to protect us from religion, which is why I threw my comment in there about free speech. Religion is everywhere. Your freedoms do allow you to pray unsoliticited prayers. (But standing over someone having a prayer vigil is a bit much, no matter how good intentioned, if it's unsolicited.)
I guess I'm talking more of forced participation such as school prayer, using the Bible as the basis for passing laws and such. Obviously there's no getting away from religion.
Your comment about the Constitution is precisely my point. We all have the freedom to practice any religion or none. This is why I believe it's important to make no assumptions about the religious lives of our patients. I do believe that religion has no place in schools, public places or hospitals, unless reqested by the patient -- and then it should be deeply respected.
I couldn't be offended by this nurses prayer if dead :chuckle , but if I were alive and in serious condition, yes, I would be offended if a hospital staffer prayed overtly with me. Silent prayer is always welcome! Don't we all need all the help we can get? And don't many of us who are caregivers benefit from calling on a higher power during a crisis? Prosletyzing in any form is offensive to me in any environment.
I can't speak to religious hospitals v. others, but my checking into St. Mary's doesn't make me a Catholic, Beth Israel doesn't assume I'm Jewish. My point is that everyone's religion is their own business, as our Constitution guarantees
This is from your original comment:
"I believe the boundary between church and secular hospital has be be as solid as it's is supposed to be between church and state."
That's the statement I have a problem with. Atheists want religion removed from all aspects of society, unless you're inside the confines of the church (or synagogue or temple) itself. No prayer in schools, no nativity scenes or menorrahs on public property, yada, yada, yada.
And I find it amusing that you would "welcome" silent prayer over you (but not spoken) and that you apparently recognize that there is a higher power, yet speak so forcefully against religion. And since when is a simple silent prayer proseletyzing?
As for my statement regarding religious-affiliated hospitals, it was intended to make the point that religious institutions build hospitals because they care about other people, whether they are of that faith or not. Do you see any atheist or agnostic sponsored hospitals? Nope!
As long as you are saying your prayer silently, I don't think there is anything anyone can do about it.
A nursing home I used to work in REQUIRED a "bedside memorial" serivce for deceased patients before the mortuatry came to pick up the body and I was very offended by it. It REQUIRED that the charge nurse (that would have been me) lead it and a lot of the scripture and prayers that we were required to read came from one of the books in the Catholic Bible that are not in the non-Catholic version. In the first place, I am not Catholic (have nothing against Catholics, but am NOT Catholic)...I also don't believe that women should lead a "religious" service when men are present, and I think that prayers should come from the heart, not be read from a piece of paper...I hate "canned prayers." This was not a Catholic facility. I would have been furious if someone in my family had died in the nursing home and the staff had done the bedside memorial thing.
If they were, still, that's rather strange. Would be the first time I heard of them observing this "ritual".
I would assume so....but I still wonder why the major meltdown over it....would ALL hindus be equally offended or at all? That is why I said not sure if it was a cultural thing or not.
rngreenhorn
317 Posts
Good point Q.
If you expect never to be offended, then you best never leave your house. Turn your phone, computer, TV, radio, and all other forms of communication off. Oh, and you better have your family move out. And possibly your dog.
A little tolerance goes a long way for personal peace.